So much of what we do is invisible: the years of training, the months and months of meticulous planning, the emotional labour of holding space, the unpaid hours of thinking, planning, rehearsing, producing, connecting. When people slide into that ecosystem only at the point where the tickets are free or discounted, when the hospitality is flowing and the vibes are buzzing, it can start to feel like all of that is just there to be taken.
I have the growing sense that people simply showing up, offering attention or saying flattering things - about artists, the company, the strategy - is seen as ‘payment enough’. That access to [exceptional] artists, to performances, to guest lists and conversations is treated as a bottomless resource, rather than something that costs time, money and energy to sustain.
Creative work is labour. Emotional presence is labour. Curating a room, a foyer, a stage - holding a standard, keeping an arts company alive in this country - is labour. When that labour is consistently met with expectation of a bargain, a discount, a freebie, instead of reciprocity, it stops feeling like community, and starts feeling like extraction.
If someone receives free tickets to experience a work of performing art, and can afford it, surely donating at least the face value of the ticket is a reasonable expectation - especially if no other cash donation has been made. Mostly, people on an invitation list can afford to buy their tickets. Donating the face value is a simple, tangible way to show that it is respected and understood that these experiences aren’t free or inexpensive to create, and sustaining them requires individual action.
It’s about remembering that generosity in the form of an offer of a free/discounted ticket is a choice, a kindness - it’s not owed, by virtue of status or any other measure. Artists deserve the same baseline respect we extend to any other skilled profession - think of it as a call-out fee that is obligatory, before the work is done. It is important to financially value the shows, the spaces, the introductions and the experience - and to act to show respect and appreciation of what it takes to keep offering them.